Argentina fear financial power of European clubs
ARGENTINA manager Greg Peters warns that the financial power of leading European clubs is threatening the development of the sport in the Southern Hemisphere.
The Buenos Aires-based Jaguares completed their first season of Super Rugby earlier this year but Peters insists the dawn of professionalism in Argentina does not mean they will be able to hold on to their leading players.
“In Argentina we face the same challenges as the rest of the Southern Hemisphere,” said Peters. “We’re paying fair money and it is cheaper to live in Buenos Aires than Paris, but we have a young group and at some stage that group is going to say they want a lifestyle change or I’ve reached the end of my career, I want to go and get my retirement fund sorted.
“If you look at the clubs, not every one has a Mourad Boudjellal like Toulon. But the question of how that affects the international game has to be pre-eminent for us in the game we all love because often those people’s interests are centred around their club only.
“At some stage there needs to be a conversation with the clubs about how sustainable this is as a model for rugby.”
Peters also insists that even with the boost of significant TV rights deals, SANZAAR struggles to keep pace with their European rivals.
“Every time we have a significant uplift in revenue it gets sucked out,” said the former SANZAAR CEO. “We may have had a 105 per cent lift in broadcast revenue with SANZAAR yet the core countries are still finding it hard.
“We are not a club like a Toulon, we’re running unions and so we can’t carve off massive amounts of money at the top for players. We have got to look out for the development of the whole game.”
The Jaguares finished 13th on Super Rugby debut with just four victories but Peters is confident they will challenge next season.
“Without a doubt,” he said. “We’ve got a much more favourable and balanced draw travel-wise next year plus eight games at home instead of seven – the additional one an Australian team. We’ve got a chance of the play-offs.”
There is little doubt that the development of rugby in Argentina would receive a huge boost were they to win the rights to host the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
Peters added: “It is the start of a process but there is interest and enthusiasm from the Government and World Rugby in Argentina being part of that mix. We would offer an amazing experience and it would be an important legacy project for Argentina as well.”